"(I'm a) Road Runner" is a hit song by Junior Walker & the Allstars, and was the title track of the successful 1966 album '' Road Runner''. Written by the team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, it was released on the Tamla (Motown) label in 1966 and reached the top twenty in the U.S. and the UK.AllMusic.com
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Background

Walker plays the distinctive tenor saxophone solo, backed by

Mike Terry Mike Terry may refer to: * Mike Terry (recording engineer) * Mike Terry (saxophonist) Andrew Alexander "Mike" Terry (July 18, 1940 – October 30, 2008) was an American saxophonist, songwriter, arranger, producer and musical director. His bariton ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

with Willie Woods on guitar. During the recording, it was discovered that Walker could play the song in only two keys. So Walker sang in a key that he could not play, and after being recorded, the saxophone track was sped up to match. The pictorial single sleeve used a running bird similar to the Road Runner cartoon character.

Personnel

Junior Walker & the Allstars * Junior Walker – tenor saxophone solo, vocals * Willie Woods – guitar *Victor Thomas – organ *James Graves – drums Additional personnel *Johnny Dawson – tambourine * The Funk Brothers – other instrumentationThe Complete Motown Singles Vol. 6: 1966

iner notes Iner or INER may refer to: * Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, or INER * Iner Souster FemBots are a Canadian indie rock band from Toronto formed in 1998. FemBots are known for their unique sound of combining instrumental everyday items, junk ...

New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records ** Johnny Griffith – piano ** James Jamerson – bass ** Joe Messina – guitar **Norris Patterson – tenor saxophone **

–

** Eddie Willis – guitar

Chart history

Later versions

* British-American rock group

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

recorded the song with Dave Walker on lead vocals for their 1973 album ''

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

''. * The Jerry Garcia Band performed a version of the song in 1975, which was featured on '' The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 2: Let It Rock''. * James Taylor performed his version, in September 1976, in episode 1, season 2 of '' Saturday Night Live''. Taylor also included the song on his 2008 album '' Covers''. *

Steve Gaines Steven Earl Gaines (September 14, 1949 – October 20, 1977) was an American musician. He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claime ...

from

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

performed the song with his own band, Crawdad, in the mid 1970s. A recording of them performing it was released on Gaines's 2001 live compilation CD, ''Okie Special''. *

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English musician and songwriter who was a member of the rock bands Humble Pie and the Herd. As a solo artist, he has released several albums, including his major breakthrough album, the live ...

included the song on his 1977 album '' I'm in You''. * Publishing rights organization BMI had songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland credited with co-writing

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

's 1988 song " Roll with It" due to its resemblance to "(I'm a) Roadrunner".

References

External links

List of cover versions of "(I'm a) Road Runner"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{DEFAULTSORT:I'm a Road Runner Motown singles 1966 singles Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland Junior Walker songs 1966 songs